Record Review: Comrades – "Collection 2010 – 2011" (Blood & Ink Records)

Great music-great musicianship and songwriting. Comrades delve into (mostly) instrumental, progressive rock and post-hardcore to eliminate musical boundaries and achieve a coherent whole. Enchanting melodies and captivating song structures, compiled here in a stunning release for the music enthusiast.

Genre: Rock / Post-hardcore
Country: USA
Label: Blood & Ink Records (link)
Band Website: Reverbnation
 

This is a rather unusual review for TYS, since Comrades’ music is much ‘softer’ compared to most of the bands presented here. Their sound might surely turn off some hardcore kids, but on the other hand it can surely please music enthusiasts. You can simple describe this as ‘good music’ without any terms and definitions. That is to say that these guys and gals, Joe, Connor and Laura, wrote some really inspired, good-sounding songs.

Now, more in detail, Comrades play rock with some post-hardcore hints here and there. That sounds like Sweet Cobra but Comrades invest more on ethereal, heartfelt melodies than sheer heaviness. There are surely parallels to post rock acts like Explosions in the Sky but again Comrades are quite different: their songs are more ‘unsettling’, featuring more changes and complex structures than the usual ‘building up climax to the point of distorted catharsis’ pattern. You can find some similarities to bands like Keelhaul, Red Sparowes or Burst (less), but although they share the passion of building ‘progressive’ songs with manifold changes of rocking riffs and melodies, Comrades are much less loud, sweaty and dissonant.

This album consists of 10 compositions, gathered over a span of time of two years as the title conveys. This is actually a compilation of 3 self-released EPs, as an outcome of their recent signing with Blood & Ink Records to be followed by a new album later this year. Most of the songs are instrumental and whenever vocals appear they just complement the message of the songs. The production is very bright and every instrument has its own place delivering all those timbres that you can expect from an instrumental rock band. Apart from unerring songwriting, Comrades’ are skilful players.

Riffs, melodies and tempo changes are intermixed in a very eclectic and captivating way. What really stands out here is the omnipresent enchanting melodies. The songs are utterly memorable and interesting to the point of ‘forced’ repeat. It is hard to talk about particular favourites here - all songs have something to say. They have a very grounded, human nature which is appealing directly from the heart of the musician to the heart of the listener: ‘Weight’, ‘Giants’, ‘Where Moth and Rust Destroy’ (the most HC song), ‘Hammerhand’, ‘Lend Me Your Heart’, ‘We Are Halves’, ‘Encourage, Encourage’. You can actually listen to the whole record through the following link:

http://bloodandink.bandcamp.com/album/collection-2010-2011

Comrades are doing their part; they have built their own sound and have pushed some elements of rock, progressive rock and post hardcore further. It is like they distilled those music styles into a coherent whole in order to expand, or better abolish, their boundaries.

Comrades come from Richmond, Virginia, US and they have toured extensively playing in any imaginable place. They are also part of the ‘Motherland Collective’, which is dedicated to re-establishing respect, collaboration and mutual support in the scene. As Comrades put it in their own words:

“[We are] Three very different people trying our best to make honest music about things we believe to be important, such as (but not limited to) integrity, the remedying of social injustice, and our creator God.”

Review by Rigas

 

Featured Bands: SLEEPING GIANT

SLEEPING GIANT is an insane metalcore band which calls Redlands, CA home. They play brutal metalcore with huge breakdowns that hit way harder than most metalcore bands out there today. Luckily for us, they don't go down the clean vocal path and just deliver sheer vocal brutality with all kinds of growls and variously pitched screams. Another thing that may hit kinda hard about this bruising hardcore machine, is that they are a heavily outspoken Christian band. The amount of good Christian hardcore bands out there is unbelievable, and more often than not they seem to produce some of the heaviest, hardest music. It's hard to figure out how a bunch of devout kids can make such extreme music. Of course, we know that Christian hardcore bands don't usually get the acceptance of hc kids, but if we can judge hardcore for the intensity of the music and the integrity of the lyrics, SLEEPING GIANT is the real deal!

These guys compare their music to a soundtrack for the judgement day or the apocalypse. The destruction of this world is what fascinates them to create their music (and that's pretty dark, if you ask me!)

All in all, we don't care what you say, these guys are awesome and make great music!

Trivia: All SLEEPING GIANT members were at some point in the legendary straight edge deathcore band xDEATHSTARx.

http://myspace.com/sleepingxgiant

http://twitter.com/sleepingxgiant

http://www.facebook.com/sleepinggiant

Featured Band: Living Sacrifice

Living Sacrifice is an awesome death metal/hardcore band that has been going since 1989. They have been  pounding extreme, brutal and dark hardcore ever since, and are considered to be one of the more well-known Christian hardcore bands (a comparison you would never make based on the music). Whatever the case may be, Living Sacrifice have put out seven killer albums on Solid State and R.E.X records that all fans of heavy and dark, metallic hardcore should check. Their latest stuff have a slight industrial (think Fear Factory) feel, but the older stuff is pure heavy ass metalcore. Check the video below!

www.livingsacrifice.com

Record Review: IRONWILL - "Unturned" (Blood & Ink Records)

IRONWILL is an awesome, spirit-filled band on Blood & Ink Records and their new record Unturned is a piece of emotive hardcore which is so sincere and deep that it will go down well with fans of metal, hardcore and punk alike.

The thing with Unturned is that, albeit a solid hardcore record, its sounds create a heavy-thinking and melancholic atmosphere every time you put it on. It is so nice to have a band that can create feelings and convey unspoken messages through their music, and IRONWILL does that very well. They use thick guitar layers and superb hardcore drum patterns to create a very solid base for the singer to come in and scream his lungs out about all kinds of personal and philosophical matters.

I'd go so far to say that in way IRONWILL is for hardcore music what NEUROSIS and ISIS are for metal; that is, the more weird, dark and introspective side of the spectrum. In addition, all the hardcore on this record has been layered with some extra guitar work that borrows equal elements from metal, rock and even guitar-pop. It may sound weird, but the music is so solid that the extra guitars only elevate it to an even higher level.

Unturned is a strangely unique record and in a way, it will take its toll on you. After a few listens, these hardcore songs start to creep in and become more personal, and might even give you a sense of loss, regret and whatnot. So I'd say that this record is more hardcore than hardcore, even if it is filled with melodies and crazy build ups that are not so common in today's narrow confines of hardcore.

http://www.facebook.com/ironwillhardcore

UPs: Genre-defying guitar work, super-powerful drumming, intricate song structures

DOWNs: Not suitable for when you're already feeling like shit/hurt/whatever

Lowdown: Powerful and emotive hardcore with great musicianship and totally fresh ideas while staying true to hardcore

ALTARS - 'Opposition' EP Review

Today we have another review brought to you by our good old pal, Nick Tolis. He has reviewed the very interesting and brutally beatiful new work by stalwart moshers, ALTARS. Their new ep entitled Opposition is a perfect example of new age, epic beatdown hardcore with melancholic touches and NO clean vocals. Enjoy!

ALTARS - Opposition EP

A mix of sounds

In case you are a fan of metal-hardcore, with lots of beat downs I guess you have found your thing here. The good thing is that this band manages to play something common but so different at the same time. After the intro song the album starts with a heavy beat down that will catch you from the head and throw you miles away. At the first seconds of the song “Advocate” I questioned my self whether this is a death metal band heavily influenced by Morbid Angel or a metal hardcore band. Things change rapidly. Fast beats, melodic loops, some screamo parts and some samples giving an industrial feeling create an interesting plus remarkable album.

To give a clearer idea, the album sounds like a mixture of Poison the Well, Comeback Kid, Born from Pain, Walls of Jericho and Chimaira. The good thing is that Altars succeed to put their signature to the album and to be proud to say that this is their music and not someone else’s music.

Overall, we have a six track EP, really well played, melodic-metal-hardcore with interesting ideas and lots of beat-downs to move your head up and down and enter the mosh-pit. Last but not least, the lyrics are faith-God-Christian oriented. Not really my thing to be honest but… nevermind the bollocks… let the guys play their music and express their thoughts…since they play it well… I am okay with it.

http://www.facebook.com/AltarsHC

Nick can be reached at nikostolis [at] gmail [dot] com 

FOR TODAY - "Breaker" Review (2010, Facedown Records)

I hope you like a fair bit of metal, cause this is as metal as it gets! Forget beat-down hardcore, forget metalcore; this is pure METAL, but you could call it progressive death metal, post death-core, or new age metal-hardcore! What For Today do (and they do it well) is form an identity which overlaps most boundaries of modern heavy music and borrows elements from a variety of genres: from discordant, mathematically-calculated breakdowns to pure heavy metal melodies and crazy hardcore blasts. In fact, one could say that this crazy record is comprised of 70% devastating metal, 20% paranoia and 10% spoken word/poetry. That's correct!

Us Europeans may feel a little left behind in front of American bands like For Today, which formulate new sounds while still managing to stay brutal and heavy and true to their roots. Speaking of roots, For Today is an outspoken Christian band that has stayed true to spreading the gospel since their 1st album (Breaker is their 3rd release). I guess this is the element that keeps them close to the hardcore scene (I bet they have more HC fans than metal fans), cause only in hardcore are bands so outspoken and in your face. The lyrics are straight out Christian, and I honestly don't think these guys can be moved from that. They have chosen to tread this dangerous path which might throw off many close-minded fans, and may attract criticism for being overtly vocal of their beliefs; but I for one like the fact that they do what they want regardless. It's the bands with a clear identity and a clear vision that stand out.

For Today: Christian hardcore kids

Back to the music side, we mentioned earlier that For Today have a strong avant-garde/new age flavor to their sound. This is not something we meet every day in metal or hardcore. They combine a technicality that sounds like they came straight out of Berkley, while they just keep throwing the screamo and the beatdowns and the melodic parts at you non-stop (they even end the record with a traditional gospel sing along!). They manage to fit it all into the overall brutality and make it all sound more interesting. There are some very good avant-garde drum intros and guitar interludes, as well as some spoken parts that create an intense spiritual atmosphere from start to finish. These spoken word parts sound like a hardcore poet declaring an age of spiritual independence and profound devotion. It really separates For Today from the countless other bands that do the post death metal/hardcore thing.

In the tired metal/hardcore world, it's bands like For Today that make the difference. They have a distinct message and some strong music to back it up. What else does a band need? This gets at least 8/10.

'Repent or Perish': a different style of devotion

Close Your Eyes - 'We Will Overcome' (2010) album review

I really don't care what people may say about a band like Close Your Eyes, with them being Christian hardcore and all. The fact is that these guys have created a masterpiece of melodic hardcore with great lyrics, which I believe will change the sound of hardcore as we know it. We Will Overcome (their debut on Victory Records) is full of good, fresh ideas that indeed create a very new & uplifting listening experience for me & you.

A good thing about many new bands out there these days, is that they manage to pull off their melodic stuff while remaining heavy & hardcore. And it's not done like back in the day, i.e. just beatdowns and then clean vocals, cause bands like Close Your Eyes are more consistent in their sound; they combine the heavy/melodic exchange into one mix, thus creating a solid presence that just feels new and innovative.

The Christian themes that are strongly emerging throughout the album, however, become an aspect that might throw off many hardcore fans. The lyrics and singing are straight out uplifiting, totally Christian, with themes about brotherhood and family love, about God and faith--themes kind of forbidden in hardcore. I think that in many countries around the world, kids have started changing their minds and accept a more sensitive and/or spiritual approach to heavy music. Greece is definitely not one of them! For me, if I can  listen to the darker stuff like death/black metal influenced hardcore, I have absolutely no problem to switch to the posi side and listen to something spiritual & uplifting like Close Your Eyes. After all, aren't these hard times we live in, don't we all need a voice that will sustain us? What better ways do have that than through music, through hardcore?

I played this yesterday in my car with some friends and I a heard a variety of comments, both good and bad (it was compared to Time in Malta, Misery Signals and even Blink 182-what!?). What's for sure is that a band like Close Your Eyes will not go unnoticed in today's scene. I don't care what my friends say, this gets thumbs up!

http://www.myspace.com/closeyoureyesmusic

Thin Ice - 'Revelation Through Tribulation' EP Review

Thin Ice... a band NOT to be confused with UK's dirty oldschool hc outfit On Thin Ice. These guys are from Texas and play heavy hardcore like Terror, with a bit more of a 90s straight edge touch.

Yes... these guys are pretty damn  heavy. They got the double bass drum on full effect, while the bass is distorted and higher in the mix than you usually hear from hardcore bands. You can hear it clanging in the background mercilessly, which for me (with the bass being my main instrument) is just perfect!

Another thing you should know about this band is that they are really young (all in school) and straight up hardcore Christians. They are really outspoken too, they even state state that their intention as a band is simply to show God's love and play hardcore music (from an interview on the website HXC Christian). As I've said before, I believe that at the end of the day in the hardcore scene it is way more revolutionary to say you believe in God, because the norm is to be an atheist or whatever. So respect to these guys for standing by their beliefs!

In any way, Thin Ice have been pretty hard at work, having played many shows with established bands like labelmates Venia, Donnybrook, Shai Hulud and many others! I believe that they have some pretty good ideas in their songs, they are not at all generic (which is awesome in a genre which is so saturated), good musicians, and they can surely stand aside from the pack of heavy hardcore bands. And to think this is only their 1st EP, recorded in a home studio! 

Yeah... it seems that hardcore kids like these in Thin Ice, with solid beliefs and strong mindsets, are able to shape their lives the way they want and direct their energy into creative activities. I mean these kids here are all the way into the hardcore scene with home studios, live shows, record deals, side-projects and everything! In fact, they got another band called Goldmill, which is a more progressive yet extreme hardcore side-project... and I know very well that you people out there (especially here in Greece) just love your progressive discordant hardcore so go and check 'em out!

http://www.myspace.com/thinicehc

http://www.myspace.com/goldmillhc

http://www.bloodandinkrecords.com 

RISE WITH HONOR - self titled demo EP

Truth is that I listened to this EP before I checked any info on the band online. As this is some kind of HEAVY-ASS downtempo hardcore, I was expecting a crew of thug gorillas with tattoos on their heads and stuff, but -to my surprise- these guys are a bunch of young Christian (!) fellas who simply play some of the heaviest hardcore/metal out there. Through the years, I have observed that the most passionate and intense bands in HXC are those with the clearest beliefs, like religious and straight edge. Don't believe me? Think Path of Resistance, 108, Facedown Records, Blood & Ink Records, or so many others.

In any case, these guys are pretty damn good. I've had this sitting in my playlist for quite a while, because I didn't know what to make of it. I mean, it is SO damn heavy and extreme, like nothing I've heard lately. OK I've heard heavier bands in brutal death metal styles etc, but these guys have really carved a different & heavy-as-fuck sound as far as hardcore is concerned. It is slow for the most part, with lots and lots of double bass drumming, death/black metal vocals and a down-tuned groove that will shake your stereo until it falls off the table. I guess I could describe this like a mix between Obituary, Suffocation and Hatebreed/Born From Pain type metal-core. 

Get this, cause this young band is on the rise and you don't wanna be the last person jumping on the bandwagon when everybody else likes them :P They got a nicely different, dare I say analogue but all the while extreme hardcore sound. I think it will suit all those who are pushing the boundaries a little bit more and want to hear something new and different without it necessarily being 'progressive' and 'post'.

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OK so here I will take this opportunity to say a personal view about Christianity in Hardcore (ouch) -- even religion in hardcore generally. I know that most people detest anything that is spiritual in hardcore but me as representer and main writer for Take Your Shot, I don't mind it. There are a lot of good bands and labels doing their thing and if they are Christians and they want to speak about it, they got the right. Of course I hate preaching and force-feeding as well! But why should all bands only sing  about Unity, fake friendships, corrupt governments, the scene etc? Hardcore is supposed to be (and truly is for the most part) an open-minded scene, we've allowed a lot of stuff in and freedom of speech, to reach the point of criticizing religious or whatever bands in 2010??? It doesn't really make sense. If you don't like the spiritual lesson, then just listen to these bands for the music if they are good. There is a high level of integrity and realness in this type hardcore, and some of the bands and label owners who are Christian, are some of the coolest people out there and proper hardcore dudes. So don't be so hard on 'em! (again, I say, this is a personal opinion--thanks & peace out! Fotis-TYS)

WAR OF AGES - "Eternal" (2010)

Genre: Christian/Metalcore

Website: www.myspace.com/warofages

Label: Facedown Records

What is going on here? This is some different shit. It’s like a band has managed to mix 80s metal with metalcore. And when I say 80s metal I mean Iron Maiden or Quiet Riot or something. In fact this is very, very melodic and filled with guitar leads, double guitar harmonies etc that remind of the good metal that my friends listened to back in high-school. This is not what I review or listen to every day, but War Of Ages manage to pull it off just fine and leave a positive impression!

Sorry for calling this album out on its metal-ness and having to get the anti-metal demon out of me. Now I can talk about the positive things which truly dominate this record. It has been very well produced at Lambesis Studios (a certificate for current production standards), so you know it has a good, wide sound. There is some exceptional guitar work on this album, and overall it has very good musicians. They can all play their instruments and the drummer uses the double pedal in a very satisfactory manner! 

The vocals are a whole different story. There are two main types: one is the sung parts that usually go in the chorus and the other is the death metal ones which are spot-on and take up most of of the vocals overall. But what I liked most about the vocals are some spoken parts (in a typical hardcore tradition), where the singer just lets something out like thinking aloud in frustration. Yes! Now these guys get the extra point! And the fact they are an outspoken Christian band shows the fact that they got ballz.

I personally like my hardcore with a spiritual touch (it's not all about hate and fat guys with tattoos). And even if this record is way more metal than hardcore, it doesn't matter cause it's good and catchy and heavy. 

For fans of: Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Christian Metal&Hardcore